Thursday, April 17, 2003 | 9:39 a.m.
Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.
When Fernando Vargas steps back into the ring July 26 in Los Angeles, he'll be coming off a nine-month suspension imposed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and will be 10 months removed from his most recent fight.
Rusty or not, the former junior middleweight champ still figures to be a tough guy to beat.
But the man who will be across from him that night at the Olympic Auditorium has the chance of a lifetime, promoter Johnny McClain says of Fitz Vanderpool.
"Vargas is the perfect opponent at the perfect time for Fitz," McClain said this week as the Vargas vs. Vanderpool fight fell into place. "What better time to face Vargas than after a suspension, a long layoff and the fact he's been getting knocked down a lot in his fights?
"I look at Vargas and see a very beatable fighter. I think Fitz can do it."
Vargas, who was suspended (and fined $100,000) for testing positive for steroids following his TKO-11 loss to Oscar De La Hoya in September at Mandalay Bay, will get the lion's share of the purse money and almost all of the prefight attention, yet Vanderpool might have an outside shot. A native of Trinidad & Tobago who has been living in Las Vegas the past two years, he's 24-4-4 and ranked as the No. 1 challenger at 154 pounds by the World Boxing Council.
Vargas is 22-2, with a loss to Felix Trinidad preceding the one to De La Hoya.
"I know Vargas' people think there's nothing special about Fitz and the average person might think he's going to be easy to beat," McClain said. "But contrary to public opinion, he has the power to do it.
"I admit he hasn't always looked good, but he's one of these fickle kind of fighters who rises to the level of his competition."
Vanderpool, 34, had been using Roger Mayweather as a trainer but will switch to Jimmy Montoya and move his camp to Los Angeles next month.
"This isn't a fight we took just for the money, because Vargas is going to get most of the money anyhow," McClain said. "I mean, it would be about the money if we didn't think Fitz could win, but he's hungry and he's been in the game a long time waiting for something like this to happen.
"He still has to beat Vargas in L.A., in his living room, but I think it can be done."
Dominick Guinn, 21-0, won Saturday's main event at Caesars Tahoe, defeating fellow heavyweight Charles Hatcher, 14-4, by ninth-round TKO. ... Local welterweight Ishe Smith, 10-0, has taken a fight with Sam Garr, 33-6, as part of a televised card April 24 in Gulfport, Miss. ... Top Rank has added WBC junior flyweight champ Jorge Arce to its May 3 lineup at Mandalay Bay. Arce, 33-3-1, will defend his title against veteran Melchor Cob-Castro, 66-8-4, beneath the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Yory Boy Campas main event. ... Marty Robbins will sub for Greg Torres and meet former junior lightweight world champ Steve Forbes to headline the Stratosphere's April 26 card.
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